1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to metal roofing and siding panels to be used in covering the roof or exterior wall of a building after the pattern of platelike slates.
2. Prior Art Statement
Conventional metallic roofing and siding panels used for covering roofs of buildings come in various kinds. The present inventor has already proposed several kinds of metallic roofing and siding panels of the class. The metallic panel disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Registration Application SHO 61(1986)-160233, for example, is a pentagonal product formed by pressing a thin metallic plate and corrosion-proofed by a surface treatment. As illustrated in FIG. 13 to FIG. 15, this metallic panel 1 consists of an underlying part A forming an upper part of the panel (the upper lefthand part in the position of FIG. 13) and destined to be overlaid by another metallic panel 1 and an exposed part B forming a lower part of the panel and destined to be left exposed after the covering of a roof is completed. A rising rib 2 bent substantially perpendicularly upwardly is formed along the edge of the underlying part A and a falling rib 3 bent substantially perpendicularly downwardly is formed along the edge of the exposed part B in the lower part of the panel. Further, cylindrical bosses 4 adapted for a nail to be driven therein are formed on the underlying part A of the metallic panel 1.
The covering of a roof with metallic panels 1 is accomplished by fastening metallic panels 1 side by side in one row along the lower edge of the roof to a roof sheathing 6 or rafters 7 of the roof by driving nails 5 into nail holes of the cylindrical bosses 4 formed plurally on the underlying part A of each metallic panel 1, similarly fastening metallic panels 1 side by side in a row in such a manner as to have the exposed parts B thereof cover the upper surfaces of the underlying parts A of the metallic panels 1 in the first row, and repeating this procedure on the successive rows from the lower to the upper end along the inclination of the roof until the roof is wholly covered (FIG. 14 and FIG. 15).
The metallic panel disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Application SHO 61(1986)-194123 is an improved version of the metallic panel described above, the improvement consisting in having a plurality of oblong reinforcing protuberances formed on the panel surface in the vertical direction of the metallic panel 1. The metallic panel disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Application SHO 61(1986)-194124 is an improved version of the aforementioned metallic panel 1, the improvement consisting in having the metallic panel 1 folded at the boundary between the underlying part and the exposed part in a Z-shaped cross section so that the lower end of the underlying part overhangs the upper end of the exposed part and having formed at the end part of the falling rib on the lower end side of the exposed part an engaging part adapted to take hold of the Z-shaped fold formed on another metallic panel placed beneath the metallic panel under discussion. The metallic panels of the three kinds described above invariably have the exposed parts thereof left exposed after the covering of a roof or an exterior wall is completed so that the roof or exterior wall will assume a pleasing appearance as a whole.
In the case of the conventional metallic panel 1 described above, since the rising rib 2 and the falling rib 3 are both bent perpendicularly, the metallic panel 1 entails the possibility that, during a storm, rainwater leaking through the joined parts of adjacent panels will flow over these ribs and reach the roof sheathing. Further since the upper ends of the ribs of the metallic panel perpendicularly contact the surfaces of the other metallic panels laid thereon, this metallic panel has the disadvantage that the upper end surfaces of the ribs will through collision and sliding friction, inflict damage upon the finished surfaces of the metallic panels. When a person stands on the metallic panels or walks on the surface of a completed roof, for example, there is the possibility that the portions of metallic panels which are not in contact with the other metallic panels will be dented to such an extent as to impair the appearance of the metallic panels.